Facing A Tough Primary, Lugar Encourages Everyone To Vote

The nearly four-decade career of Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar has come to an end. The Republican elder statesman, well known as an internationalist and as a moderate willing to reach across the aisle, lost his primary battle to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a conservative upstart backed by the Tea Party.

"My public service is not concluded," Lugar said during his concession speech, according to Reuters. "I look forward to what can be achieved in the Senate in the next eight months despite a very difficult national election atmosphere."

Lugar becomes the latest incumbent to lose a re-election to a Tea Party candidate. The Washington Post reports that in 2010, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, from Alaska, and Sen. Robert Bennett, from Utah, also lost their primaries. That same year, voters also spurned GOP establishment favorites for Tea Party candidates in Colorado, Delaware and Nevada.

"Richard Mourdock's victory truly sends a message to the liberals in the Republican Party: voters are rejecting the policies that led to record debt and diminished economic freedom, and they will continue to be rejected in elections throughout America," Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, which infused the Mourdock campaign with cash, told the Post.

The Tea Party Express, a political action committee, said it went after the longtime senator because he had "lost his conservative edge." Lugar's defeat, the organization said, is just the latest sign that the Tea Party movement is still going strong.

Mourdock will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in November.

Update at 9:01 p.m. ET. Applause For Lugar:

To begin his victory speech, Mourdock asked his crowd for an applause for Lugar, whom he described as "a great public servant" and "a man who deserves the respect of all of you."

Mourdock said that this race wasn't about animosity and Lugar wasn't his "enemy."

"This race was about ideas, about the direction of the Republican Party, the direction of the country," Mourdock said. He said the race was certainly about making the Senate a more conservative place, but it was more about moving this country to a better place.

Update at 8:44 p.m. ET. 'Willing To Reach Across The Aisle':

In a statement, President Obama praised Lugar's willingness to "reach across the aisle and get things done." The president went on:

"My administration's efforts to secure the world's most dangerous weapons has been based on the work that Senator Lugar began, as well as the bipartisan cooperation we forged during my first overseas trip as Senator to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. ... He has served his constituents and his country well, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Update at 8:37 p.m. ET. Tea Party Still Strong:

The Tea Part Express, which bills itself as the largest Tea-Party-affiliated political action committee, says this race proves the movement is still going strong. Here's a snippet of the statement they've just sent out to reporters:

"In 2009 and 2010 the media bought into the false liberal narrative that the Tea Party was a fringe movement that would have no influence in the midterm elections. The reality was a truly historic conservativ victory across the country in 2010. We saw more Republican state legislators elected since 1928 and more Republican congressional candidates elected since 1948. Since then the narrative has been the Tea Party is dead – well, what we saw tonight is undeniable evidence to the contrary."

Update at 8:21 p.m. ET. 'A Figure From The Past':

TheIndianapolis Star says that Lugar's image as a "figure from the past" ultimately led to a major defeat. Mourdock, the paper adds, took full advantage of that image pounding the message that it was time for a change.

The paper adds:

"Voters cited his age, 80; his Virginia address where he'd lived since 1977; his votes for President Obama's Supreme Court nominees and his support for keeping earmarks in the hands of the legislative branch rather than surrender that power to the White House. And party insiders noted that Lugar had been a distant figure, not bothering to come to party events in Indiana until this year, when it was too late to kindle the relationships that could help him win."

Update at 7:53 p.m. ET. AP Projects Lugar Has Lost:

The AP follows suit, making the call in favor of Mourdock. Here's a bit of the wire service's first write through:

"Tea party-backed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock won the Republican nomination Tuesday. He spent much of the campaign portraying Lugar as too moderate for the conservative state.

"Mourdock will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly in November."

Update at 7:43 p.m. ET. NBC News Projects Lugar Has Lost:

NBC News is the first to call the race, projecting that Lugar has lost his primary. On CNN earlier, Lugar, 80, ruled out a run as an independent, so if the NBC projection holds true, it means Lugar's 36-year Senate career might come to an end.

With 33 percent of the vote counted, Lugar is trailing Mourdock by 20 points.

Update at 7:07 p.m. ET. Polls Are Now Closed:

The polls are closed and we've begun to receive vote tallies. With 1 percent of the vote counted, Mourdock leads Lugar 57 percent to 43 percent.

"Lugar's bid for a seventh Senate term appears in great peril, with a recent poll showing him trailing his GOP challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, by 10 percentage points.

"Mourdock, a Tea Party favorite, has benefited from an infusion of money from the Club for Growth, and from Lugar's haphazard campaign that not only failed to quell critics who derided him for not maintaining a home in Indiana since 1977, but also undermined his well-earned reputation as a steady, statesmanlike force."

Update at 6:00 p.m. ET. Everyone Should Vote:

Indiana is an open primary. That could prove key if Lugar attracts enough Democrats to vote for him. It's exactly what he was counting on today, when he said this to the Indianapolis Star:

"My message has been very clear. And that is I hope that every person in Indiana who's a registered voter will vote today in the Republican primary because I believe that if all the voters of Indiana vote, I will win. I believe we have a large majority of the people supporting us in this state."

"The public as a whole may be unhappy with one party or the other, but they're very unhappy with the Congress as a whole for their inability to make decisions," Lugar told CNN. "I'm a person who makes sure we do get on with it, that there is progress, and with personal vigor I argue with people.

"I try to persuade people, I try to get votes on issues, and I hope to continue to do that," he said.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block, with news tonight that six-term veteran Republican Senator Richard Lugar has been defeated. The Indiana politician lost the Republican primary there to State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who was backed by the Tea Party and who said that Lugar was not conservative enough.

NPR's Tamara Keith is at Lugar election night headquarters in Indianapolis. And she joins me now. And, Tamara, the polls seemed to be indicating this would happen and it has. Richard Lugar is out. Tell us what happened.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Indeed, he is out. And he actually just went up to the podium right now and is giving what is clearly a concession speech. You know, there were a lot of factors here but, ultimately, voters decided that they wanted something new after 36 years.

BLOCK: Richard Lugar, I should say, is 80 years old. And let's talk a bit about the issues in this campaign. We mentioned the Tea Party backing for Mourdock, who also made it an issue that Lugar was not officially a resident of Indiana anymore and, if I understand this right, wasn't eligible to vote in his home district; he didn't meet the residency requirements.

KEITH: Indeed, Senator Lugar sold his home here in Indianapolis when he was elected, moved to a Washington, DC, suburb and lived his life there. He continued to vote in Indiana, continued to come back on a regular basis and had legal information that said that that was okay. Then, this year, his right to vote was revoked. He ultimately straightened that out by re-registering from his family's farm. But it really drove home the problems that he faced in this campaign. You know, he was accused of being a Washington insider, having been there too long.

(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE)

KEITH: And that hit it home, sent it home to the voters and many people were bothered by that.

BLOCK: And we're hearing the applause there at Lugar headquarters. It's got to be an emotional night for them. Richard Lugar has been an easy winner in Indiana going all the way back to the 1970s. What are you hearing from people?

KEITH: Well, and in fact, you know, six years ago he didn't even have a Democratic opponent in the general election. So, this is just a major change for him. You know, the mood is quite somber here.

BLOCK: And talk a little bit about Richard Lugar's record in the Senate.

KEITH: Well, you know, he has over the years been chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And that - you know, his greatest legacy, many will say, is the Lugar non-ammendment that worked on nuclear nonproliferation with the former Soviet Union. And people I've spoken to say that that is going to be a lasting legacy, where he reached across party lines to make that happen.

BLOCK: Well, Richard Lugar is out. Richard Mourdock, the Republican, will be going up in November against Democrat Joe Donnelly, a member of the House. And is there any indication that moderates or independent voters may turn to the Democrat, may, you know, let a larger protest vote against Richard Mourdock?

KEITH: You know, that's not clear yet, but certainly Donnelly is a moderate Democrat. He definitely leans to the right of the Democratic Party. And Mourdock leans to the right of the Republican Party. But he, you know, a lot of people are saying this is a pretty Republican state and that's not going to change. On the other hand, Democrats are sort of salivating at the chance. They believe they have a shot at this seat now.

BLOCK: Okay. NPR's Tamara Keith in Indianapolis, at Richard Lugar's election night headquarters, where he is delivering his concession speech. The six-term Republican in the Senate lost his primary bid today. Tamara, thanks so much.